Lois Jean (Kilmer) Wernicke

Lois Jean Kilmer Wernicke of Swannanoa, NC, died Friday, August 2, 2024. She was born in Elkhart County, Indiana, on July 7, 1924 to parents, Sarah Leonard Kilmer and Herbert Lee Kilmer.

She was a sister to Mary (Art) Weaver and Warren (Helen) Kilmer. She grew up on the family farm and at age 18 married the farm boy next door, Charles "Chuck" Austin Wernicke. Their family of six children, David Charles, Nancy Jean, Janet Sue, Cheryl Ann, Betty Jane, and Thomas Ray, moved frequently for Chuck's work until 1972, when Chuck and Lois moved to Swannanoa. It was here that Lois established her business, Drapery Arts, enhancing the windows of many WNC homes and the Biltmore House. Upon retirement, Lois and Chuck enjoyed their RV and their 11 grandchildren. The family now consists of 15 great-grandchildren and 5 great-great-grandchildren.

Lois's ability to see the good in others and make others feel loved was a blessing to all who met her, and she left behind many friends and admirers. She loved watching her vegetable garden grow and feeding friends and family with its bounty and her homemade bread, cookies, and pies. She could tell you exactly how many eggs her chickens produced. She continued to sew and adorn family houses with window treatments until the end of her life. Despite her husband's death in 2011, after 68 years of marriage, Lois remained a positive, caring, and community-involved person. Her favorite and authentic response to: "How are you doing?" was "Fabulous."

Surviving family who will remember her fondly are David Wernicke (Connie Olsen), Nancy Carwane, Janet Stump (David), Betty Lasseter (Gregg), and Tom Wernicke (Louise Cate), and her multitude of descendants and nieces and nephews.

A private family service will be held at a later time. Her ashes were buried with her husband's ashes at the Western Carolina State Veteran's Cemetery in Black Mountain. Memorials may be made to the Presbyterian Children's Home.

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